


Valentine's Fever

by Vena



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22983541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vena/pseuds/Vena
Summary: Valentine's Day wasn't a date that Banri was ever thrilled about. It wasn't like he had a significant other (he'd never really been interested), and it wasn't like sweets were his favorite food (unlike some people he knew). He always received an annoying amount of confessions from girls he hardly knew, and he always wound up with way more chocolate than he knew what to do with.
Relationships: Hyoudou Juuza/Settsu Banri
Comments: 14
Kudos: 209





	Valentine's Fever

**Author's Note:**

> howdy everyone!! i haven't finished writing a fic in almost 3 years so i'm a bit rusty, though i'm also happy that i finally finished something! i'm hungry for juban so i'll hopefully be able to write more in the future! please ignore the title i sat for hours trying to think of one and i just wanted to finally post this ;v; happy belated valentine's!

Valentine's Day wasn't a date that Banri was ever thrilled about. It wasn't like he had a significant other (he'd never really been interested), and it wasn't like sweets were his favorite food (unlike some people he knew). He always received an annoying amount of confessions from girls he hardly knew, and he always wound up with way more chocolate than he knew what to do with. He was pretty sure he'd almost drowned in the number of candies that had fallen out of his shoebox that morning. What the hell was he going to do with it all?

After cleaning everything up and unceremoniously shoving as much as he could into his schoolbag, his mood soured further when he reached his classroom and saw even more chocolate littering his desk.

"Seriously?" he muttered under his breath, ignoring the jealous glares he received from some of the other guys in his class. This was even more than usual; maybe he'd gained a few fans after the Autumn Troupe's debut performance a while back?

As the day progressed, his mood only worsened. He'd had three confessions before lunch, and he decided to play it safe and hide out on the school grounds when lunch period actually started. At least that way he could eat in peace. As he took a bite of bread, he thought about what to do with all his chocolates. There was no way he could eat them all; the last time he'd tried they'd lasted him well into May. He could always dump them, but that felt like too much of a waste. 

_Guess I could give it to the guys back at the dorm,_ he figured. Some of them (Taichi) might be a little sensitive to getting secondhand Valentine's chocolate though, and he was sure that Tenma was probably going to try and get rid of what probably was a horde of his own gifts. 

At the very least, he figured he could rub all his chocolate in Juza's face. Now _that_ was a thought. Maybe this mess wouldn't be as annoying after all this year. There was no way a delinquent like Juza was bound to get anything more than obligation chocolate, if that. How jealous would he be to see just how much Banri had gotten? And he definitely wouldn't share with Juza. Not even if he begged. Banri would just lock eyes with him as he ate it piece by piece and watch the despair unfold in real time. The thought of holding Juza’s attention like that made his stomach flip and a pleasant fuzziness settle in his gut, but Banri didn’t let himself think about it too hard.

* * *

When they arrived back at the dorms after school, Banri made a beeline for his room and almost tripped over his own feet in his haste. He was glad the hallway was empty, so no one saw his slip-up.

“Oi! Hyodo!” Banri called, heading into their room before kicking the door shut behind him. His roommate didn’t budge from his seat on his bed and gave Banri a nod of acknowledgement without looking his way. He was nose deep in a script, and Banri couldn't have that. He made his way over to his own bed, dumping the contents of his bag on top of it as loudly as possible. Juza's head whipped up at the sound, and Banri couldn't help but wonder with a snort if the crinkling of the wrappers were like Pavlov's bell for the sugar demon.

"Nice, huh? I had all this waiting for me when I got to school today," he hummed, delighting in the way Juza's brow furrowed deeper than usual as he inspected the pile of chocolate.

"'s cool, I guess," he muttered, and Banri had to try even harder to hold back a laugh as the silent longing of Juza's stare burnt holes in the collection of sweets.

"White Day's gonna be a pain in the ass though," Banri continued, sitting down on his bed and grabbing one of the more decadent-looking bars of chocolate from the pile. He slowly peeled back the wrapper as he glanced at Juza again out of the corner of his eye. The other had his eyes glued to the candy in his hand, and Banri watched as Juza bit his lip as he took a bite. He wasn't the biggest fan of sweets, but the quality was evident in the way the milk chocolate seemed to melt on his tongue and it drew out an appreciative groan.

"Whoever picked that out has good taste. That brand's pretty expensive, but it's worth it," Juza sighed, still gazing at the chocolate for a while longer before reluctantly turning back to what he'd been doing with a slouch. His reactions were so worth it, this was the closest Banri had ever come to seeing Juza Hyodo pout and it was cu- hilarious, it was hilarious! Banri felt his stomach flutter pleasantly as he took another bite.

Banri took out his phone as he slowly worked at his chocolate bar, deciding he might as well do some leveling in the newest mobile game he and Itaru had started playing together while he silently tortured Juza. After a few minutes had passed the crinkling of plastic caught Banri's attention. He almost thought that Juza'd tried and failed to sneak something out of his pile, but when he looked over at him again, his roommate hadn't moved from his spot.

He did appear to be eating something, though, and that was when Banri spied a small, clear bag at his side that was filled with bite sized chocolates of his own. Something twisted in Banri's chest when he thought about the implication, but that was obviously just because his taunting was pointless if Juza had actually gotten valentine's chocolate from someone.

"What, is that some pity chocolate you got, Hyodo?" Banri scoffed, setting what remained of his own chocolate to the side. With this new development the thought of eating any more was starting to make him a little sick.

Juza shot him a glare, glancing down at the bag for a moment before settling his gaze back on Banri.

"Can it, Settsu. This was from a girl in the class next to mine. She-" Juza paused, struggling to finish the sentence. His face flushed a little and that sudden bashfulness pissed Banri off. "She said she liked our plays. Said that I was…" he made a gesture before turning away from Banri, too embarrassed to finish the sentence. Banri didn't want to hear it anyway. Juza? Getting confessed to? Was this some kind of bad joke?

"What, so you accepted? You got a girlfriend now?" Banri muttered, and Juza turned back to him with a frown.

"I turned her down." Banri hated the relief that flooded through him at the admission. Why did he even care? "She seemed nice, but 's not like I know her. Not like I'd have time anyway." He tapped the script in his lap pointedly before taking another bite.

"You still accepted the chocolate she poured her feelings into though, huh? That's a dick move," Banri retorted, and Juza rolled his eyes as he turned back to his script.

"She insisted," he replied, not bothering to look back at Banri this time. "'m not the kinda guy who'd lead her on like that." And Banri knew that was true. Juza was a lot of things, but he wouldn't go out of his way to hurt somebody like that. Banri clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.

"Eh, whatever. Valentine's is a dumb holiday anyway." He turned back to his phone to play, continuing to ignore the chocolate he'd set down. Juza getting legit Valentine's chocolate totally ruined all the fun of taunting him with his stack. He focused hard on completing the next level, desperately wanting to distract his thoughts from the weird feelings his roommate had been inspiring in him today.

It wasn't until after a few more levels he heard a shift next to him, and he glanced over to see Juza moving a few things around before his eye caught on a new bag of chocolate he was pulling out and fretting over. Now that was really annoying. What, was Juza trying to rub all this homemade chocolate in his face? What an asshole. 

"Shit, popular enough this year? Didn't think you'd get one confession, let alone two," he sneered, and just as he was about to make another comment Juza threw the bag at him. Hard. Banri had been unprepared, so it hit him smack in the face before he could attempt to catch it. "What the fuck, Hyodo!?"

"Those aren’t for me, you damn idiot. They're for you." 

Oh.

“For me?” Banri scoffed, trying to keep his cool despite the way his body temperature went up a notch. “What, somebody at your school asked you to deliver them to me? That’s pathetic.” He picked up the bag to glance at the contents; the chocolate looked kind of messy, like it had overflowed the molding and only a couple of them had any sprinkles or other fixings. They were incredibly plain.

“Can you not keep your damn mouth shut for two seconds?” Juza growled, throwing another glare Banri’s way before being unable to meet his gaze. Weird. “They’re from me. Omi showed me how to make ‘em.”

_Oh._

Banri looked back down at the chocolate again. That would explain why they looked like a clumsy oaf made them. But if Omi had helped, that had to mean they at least tasted good, right? A better question was: why the hell did Juza make him chocolate for Valentine’s Day? The moron did know what that implied...right?

“These look like shit,” he couldn't help but needle him again, anything to try and quell his suddenly racing heart. Why the hell was he feeling like this over something from Hyodo of all people? “And I’m gonna have to say no. You’re not really my type, dude.”

Juza made another frustrated sound and slammed his script shut, running a hand through his hair in obvious irritation. 

“I JUST told you to keep your fucking mouth shut, Settsu! Are you deaf now, too?” Banri couldn’t tell if the flush that was coloring Juza’s cheeks now was from embarrassment or anger. Probably both. He hoped his own face didn’t look like that, despite how warm he was feeling. “I made them for the whole Autumn troupe, not just you. Don’t go jumping to stupid conclusions. Why the hell would anyone wanna confess to an asshole like you?” He grabbed his things, climbing off his bed and heading to the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Banri asked, fingers clenching around the bag in his hand.

“Somewhere I can actually get shit done without you bothering me with stupid crap,” Juza muttered, slamming the door with a bang as he left.

“Dammit,” Banri muttered, undoing the purple ribbon that tied the bag closed and digging in for a piece. He could see Juza slaving away in the kitchen in his mind’s eye, trying and failing to be delicate while molding the chocolates. Tying the stupid bow with a dumb satisfied look on his face once he’d finished. 

“Bet I could make better chocolate than him.” He sniffed one cautiously before popping it into his mouth. It wasn’t nearly as rich or creamy as the stuff he’d been eating earlier. It was simple, and not too sweet. Omi’d probably had to step in and keep the sweets monster from dumping too much sugar in, and he was secretly grateful. They tasted good, for something made by an idiot. 

The thing that really bothered him about the whole situation was the disappointment that dripped through his veins like a slow molasses at the thought that the others would get some too. What, was their rivalry not strong enough to earn exclusive chocolate privilege? He tried to ignore how little sense that made. Anything to keep himself from dwelling on the fact he wanted to be the only one who got Juza's homemade chocolate. It wasn't like he'd gotten anything for Juza himself, anyway. He eyed his pile of sweets again, and scooped up a big chunk of them before dropping them onto his roommate's bed instead and felt pretty satisfied with himself. The quality and quantity of what he'd give to Juza was a hell of a lot better than these lumpy, kinda tasty chocolates; he'd probably be pretty excited when he saw it after getting back. 

He was right, too. When they'd both returned to the room after dinner and Juza saw the pile on his bed, he eyed Banri suspiciously.

"There's no way I'm gonna eat all that crap. If you don't want it, just throw it away." In the silence of Banri's words, he caught Juza's gaze and took note of the way his expression softened.

"...Thanks, you jerk."

Chalk up another win for Banri.

* * *

A few days later, Banri found himself hanging out in Taichi's room for a bit of extra acting practice at the other's request. He'd brought the remnants of Juza's gift to snack on, only pulling them out once they'd decided to take a small break. Taichi eyed the chocolate with a mix of envy and disappointment, leaving Banri confused as he popped one into his mouth.

"C'mon, Ban-chan! Couldn't you have eaten your homemade chocolate on your own time? Not all of us get confessions on Valentine's Day," he whined. Banri gave him an incredulous look.

"What're you talking about? You got this stuff too, didn't you?" Taichi's pout only got bigger.

"I wish!! All I got were obligation chocolates this year, and none of them were homemade."

"What, are you saying you didn't get any from Hyodo?" 

Now it was Taichi's turn to look confused.

"W-Well, he did give me some! But it wasn't anything like that!" Taichi got up to root through a few things on his side of the room until he extracted a chocolate bar. "He gave Omi one too!" It looked like good quality chocolate, but it definitely wasn't homemade.

_"I made them for the whole Autumn troupe, not just you. Don’t go jumping to stupid conclusions."_

What a liar. Did that mean Banri really was the only one who'd gotten Juza's homemade chocolate? 

"I think we're gonna have to continue this later. I gotta take care of something," Banri muttered, trying very hard to ignore the way a new sort of tension began spreading through his body the more he thought about what this revelation might mean. He gathered up his things, Taichi's mouth open to say something further, but Banri was out of the room before he could get a word in.

_Hyodo thinks he can pull one over on me?_

Banri was filled with irritation, and maybe a little anticipation, as he made his way to their room. He kicked the door open, slamming it shut behind him (not too hard, he didn't want to incur Sakyo's wrath). Juza was seated at the little table in the center of the room, looking up in brief surprise from the slice of cake he'd been in the middle of eating. 

Banri dropped his things to the floor before taking a couple of big strides across the room to yank the delinquent up by the collar of his shirt. Juza's gaze darkened as Banri pulled him close.

"Thought I wouldn't figure it out, huh? You're a bigger idiot than I gave you credit for," Banri growled, and Juza's expression tempered a bit in confusion and a hint of worry.

"What the hell are you on about, Settsu?" Juza lifted his hands and wrapped them around Banri's, which proved to be incredibly distracting as Juza tried to tug him off. He only tightened his grip on Juza's shirt as he pulled the other even closer.

"Taichi told me he and Omi didn't get any homemade chocolate from you," Banri growled. "Doubt that means Sakyo got any either." At that Juza froze, hands tightening around Banri's as he could no longer keep his gaze. He didn't say a word. Figures." _Don't go jumping to stupid conclusions,_ " Banri imitated, and that sparked Juza back to action. Juza glowered at him, finally managing to dislodge his hands and shove Banri out of his face.

"What the hell was I supposed to do?" he hissed, glare intensifying for a moment as his hands balled into fists at his sides. "You shot me down before I could say anything. Do you remember that part?" 

Banri _had_ gone and opened his big mouth, hadn't he? So Juza had been trying to save face with that stunt. Banri couldn’t fight the smirk that spread across his face as a new realization began to dawn on him.

"What, so were you seriously going to confess to me after throwing that shit at my face?" He couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled over either, and Juza looked about ready to throw a punch.

“I wasn’t planning to throw it, obviously, but as usual you can’t keep that damn mouth of yours shut,” he muttered, the embarrassment clear in his expression now. The way it softened up the hard lines on his face was actually kind of endearing. Banri was starting to realize what the fluttering in his stomach was now, and he began to brim with a confidence he hadn’t had a few days ago. 

“You sure talk about my mouth a lot.” As Banri took a step forward, it seemed to throw Juza off for a moment and he took one back in response. Banri felt a thrill shoot through him at the thought of having Juza on the retreating side. “There are other ways to shut a guy up, y’know.”

Banri wasn’t sure if the message was clear enough to someone as dense as Juza, but the other sized him up before stepping into Banri’s space this time, grabbing him by the shirt and looking down at him. 

“Something like this?” Juza lifted a fist and held it close to his face. With just a bit of windup he could get in a good hit. Banri knew he wouldn’t, though. He never threw the first punch. Their eyes met and the little bit of space between them seemed electrically charged. Banri drew a deep breath as he moved his hand to cover Juza’s and gently lower it to the side.

“Sure, but that’s not what I had in mind.” He could hear his pulse pounding in his ears and a light tremor ran through him. It wasn’t his reaction though; Juza’s hand fisted in his shirt was trembling and it made Banri’s chest ache with a want he didn’t know he possessed. He caught the way Juza’s eyes dropped down to his lips for a moment before they squeezed shut, like Juza couldn't even bear to look at him anymore, and Banri took in the sight of his flushed face with awe. He’d never seen that kind of expression on Juza before and did his best to burn it into his memory. He didn’t know if he’d ever be graced with it again, after all. 

Banri began to press forward when it seemed that Juza had no intention of moving, his own eyes slowly sliding closed just as their lips made contact. Juza made a startled sound and didn’t budge an inch as Banri tried to kiss him. Even when Banri pulled back a few seconds later, Juza still hadn’t moved. His eyes were closed as tightly as his lips had been.

“Seriously? After all that, that’s how you’re gonna kiss me?” Banri asked, laughing again. “I shoulda known you’d suck at it. Not like you’ve ever kissed anybody in your-” 

But before he had a chance to finish, Juza tugged him forward by his shirt and silenced him with another kiss. Their lips bumped together a little painfully, but this time Juza was actually pressing back against him and Banri surged forward in his own excitement. He looped his arms around Juza’s waist and tugged him a little closer in an effort to deepen the kiss.

Juza kissed awkwardly and tasted like the strawberry cake he’d been eating before Banri arrived, his lips surprisingly warm. Trying to fix some of the awkwardness, Banri tilted his head until their noses no longer bashed against each other.

Juza must have forgotten about breathing, because it wasn't long before he pulled away and their deep breaths echoed in the quiet room. Banri smiled at that, a taunt on the tip of his tongue.

"You _can_ just breathe through your nose, y'know," Banri murmured, though Juza still kept his eyes closed with a furrowed brow.

"Shut up," he muttered, pulling Banri back in again to make him do just that.

Juza was the one to adjust the kiss this time, and the first loud breath he took through his nose almost made Banri break the kiss with a laugh. However, that was when Juza’s free hand came up to lightly tangle in Banri’s hair and hold him in place. Once Banri was feeling a little bolder, he nipped at Juza’s lower lip and caused the hand in his hair to tighten. Banri tried very hard to ignore how nice it felt, but he couldn't suppress a quiet groan from rising that Juza answered with a soft huff of his own. 

They shared a few more heated kisses until Banri felt a bit too adventurous and licked along Juza’s lips, trying to deepen the kiss further, but it only caused Juza to pull back immediately in surprise. Banri couldn’t hold back a laugh this time. The heavy air between them lifted a bit, the mood effectively broken when Juza slowly removed his hands from Banri with a frown. Before he could fully pull away, Banri reached out to grab one of his hands and Juza threw him a look of surprise before linking their fingers together. 

“You were right, for once. That did a great job of shuttin’ you up,” Juza noted, moving to sit back down at the table and he pulled Banri down with him with their hands still entwined.

“Told ya.” Banri kept his eye on Juza, who had decided the half-eaten slice of cake still left on the table was now the most interesting thing in the room. Banri could see the internal struggle taking place on his face, and he sighed as he squeezed his hand. “So. Do you wanna go out or whatever?”

Juza snorted in response, but his soft smile struck a chord in Banri’s chest.“That’s really how you’re gonna ask me out? 'Or whatever'?” 

Banri shrugged, smiling when Juza squeezed his hand back. 

“Well, I doubt anybody else could put up with you," Juza sighed. "So I guess it's up to me. Not like I hadn’t been doin’ that already.” He hesitated for a moment before leaning in and planting a quick kiss on Banri’s cheek. 

“Now who needs to shut up?” Banri muttered, leaning in to quiet his new boyfriend with another kiss. He could really get used to this. 

Maybe Valentine’s Day wasn’t so bad, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> my twitter is @venagagotoku please come talk about a3 and juban with me


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